Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Largest Jewish cemetery in the Maghreb threatened

The Tunisian Jewish community could be stripped of part of its heritage. The State intends to lay hands on the largest Jewish cemetery in the Maghreb, the Borgel, and a Jewish NGO is mobilized from Paris to save this place which honors the tombs of major rabbis.

The Tunisian government wants to resuscitate a controversial plan, under study for a few years, to confiscate the Borgel Jewish cemetery which has been there since 1893, whose land value amounts to 35 million euros.

The resurgence of this measure is causing anxiety among many Tunisian Jews, all remembering the forced expropriation of the old Jewish cemetery in Tunis (known as "Passage") in 1958 and anti-Semitic violence including the desecration of the Great Synagogue in June 1967.

The land, which remains to this day the property of the Jewish community of Tunis, could be expropriated at any time without any urban planning program justifying it. The Government wishes to use this vast land which partly hinders the expansion of the city of Tunis.

It was not an anti-Semitic idea, but rather an operation intended to sell this land to local or foreign property developers. However, this project comes at a time of strong anti-Israeli sentiment in Tunisia.

This Jewish cemetery contains more than 22,000 tombs bearing the names of famous personalities, including those of several chief rabbis. Tombs of the Hakhamim (wise men or "saints") would be affected by this expropriation measure. Some 183 Rabbis rest at the Borgel.

Many of the graves there were transferred from another Jewish cemetery in 1958 when the government took over that cemetery.

The Borgel has not been maintained well despite the efforts of the Muslim caretaker.

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02/26 Links Pt1: Benny Morris: The Palestinians Don't Want to Share the Country with the Jews; Poll: Most Palestinians See "Regaining All of Historical Palestine" as their "Top Priority"

From Ian:

Israeli Historian Benny Morris: The Palestinians Don't Want to Share the Country with the Jews

In the wake of the failed Camp David and Oslo Accord, and following the brutality of the second intifada, Morris has grown pessimistic about the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and his views have taken a rightward turn. Citing the belief that Palestinians will never support a two-state solution, he has called himself a “Cosmic Pessimist.”

J. spoke with Morris ahead of his upcoming book tour to the Bay Area. His latest book, his first on a subject other than Israel, Palestine or Zionism, is titled “The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey’s Destruction of Its Christian Minorities.” Co-authored with Dror Ze’evi, it tells the history of atrocities, including the Armenian genocide, by the Ottoman regime from 1894 to 1924.

Did you support his strike against Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian military leader?
Yeah, sure, no problem killing Soleimani. Soleimani was a killer, a man who organized killings, and a soldier in a war. And soldiers in a war are open to being killed. That’s what war is about.

What is your view on the Iran nuclear deal?
I think the Americans should have held out. The Americans had all the cards. The Iranians were better negotiators and the Americans should have held out for a much better deal.

But the deal was signed. It was a mistake, but it helped, maybe, slow down the Iranian nuclear project. I fear that withdrawing from the deal may lead to a quickening of the Iranian nuclear project, which will again confront Israel with a choice: either attacking the Iranian nuclear facilities, or the Americans attacking the nuclear facilities, or just allowing the Iranians to develop a nuclear weapon, as America has allowed North Korea to do. Once they have nuclear weapons, just like North Korea, they will become invulnerable. That’s the problem. And then they will do what they like in the Middle East.

With the Trump peace plan, it seemed like the administration was trying to strong-arm the Palestinians in some way. What did you make of the proposal?
Well, the Palestinians can’t agree to it. Look, I don’t think the Palestinian leadership, and Palestinians, basically, in their hearts, I don’t think they want to share Palestine with the Jews. That’s the basic thing. So it doesn’t really matter what plan they’re offered. Trump’s plan, Clinton’s plan in 2000. They say no. They don’t want to divide the country with the Jews. This is the basic thing.

If you don’t accept what I’m saying, and believe that they are willing to reach some sort of two-state deal, then this is a two-state deal they can’t accept, because it doesn’t really offer them a state. So even at minimum, what he’s offering is a long shot. But as I say, it doesn’t really matter that much because I don’t think they’ll agree to a two-state solution of any sort.

Ben-Dror Yemini: How did Western media become Gaza's useful idiot?

Israel granted work permits to Gaza Palestinians, expanded the fishing zone, and allowed the cash to flow from Qatar - all to no avail. The rocket fire from Gaza continues.

Defeating Islamic terror is considered legitimate anywhere else in the world, but what the U.S. and NATO can do, Israel cannot - even when fighting a jihadist group that controls Gaza.

Jerusalem simply cannot ignore international pressure. As soon as images depicting the aftermath of Israeli raids appear on media outlets, demands for a cessation of hostilities begin.

The West is ignorant of the true face of Hamas. It is an anti-Semitic organization that calls for the destruction of Jews; its official media outlet teaches children about the need to kill Jews.

Meanwhile, its religious leaders call for Rome to be captured in the interest of Islamic hegemony, much as the Islamic State ideology prescribed.

The Palestinians Need to Accept the Reality of Jerusalem and Israel

Israel isn’t going anywhere, and Jerusalem will always be its capital. Period.

Every head of state that visits Israel meets the prime minister in Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv, and has always done so. And while most of these world leaders won’t acknowledge as much publicly, Jerusalem has been the recognized capital of Israel for 3,000 years, since the time of King David. Nor is there one scrap of archaeological evidence to suggest otherwise.

During American presidential campaigns, candidates always acknowledge that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, but until President Trump broke that mold in 2017, they had never acted on that conviction upon winning the White House.

Trump’s decision to finally fulfill the promise of his predecessors to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was, as he himself stated, merely a recog

In May, the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and IRmep will be holding an all-star Israel-bashing seminar at the National Press Club in Washington.

Speakers include Haaretz' Gideon Levy, Columbia University's Joseph Massad, "The Israel Lobby"'s Stephen Walt, and washed up 1970s rock star Roger Waters.

Those who attend have to adhere to some interesting rules:

Only the official videographer and accredited members of the news media will be allowed to record this event. Attendees are allowed to take still photos without using a flash. ...
No public dissemination of third-party information in conjunction with or during the event is permitted without the express prior written permission of the organizers 30 days in advance of the conference. Individuals or organizations that violate or have in the past violated these conference or National Press Club rules or who disrupt orderly proceedings may have their conference credentials and/or tickets revoked and may not be permitted to participate in future events.

The first rule seems to be designed to ensure that if anyone says anything embarrassing - crossing the mythical line from "anti-Israel" to antisemitism, for example - there will be no evidence. The organizers must approve any news media in attendance, so you can be sure that "Zionist" media will not attend.

It took me a while to figure out what the second highlighted rule even means. I'm fairly sure it allows the organizers to kick out anyone they want if they send a single tweet during the conference.

The anti-Israel crowd is deathly afraid that one of their speakers will say something that will make them look bad and they want to control the news. In addition, these rules are meant to discourage any Zionists from attending the event.

These rules are what one would expect to see in a third world country, not the National Press Club.

The only other place I could find the same wording of "No public dissemination of third-party information..." was from a similar anti-Israel and antisemitic conference from 2014, the "National Summit to Reassess the U.S.—Israel 'Special Relationship,'" also sponsored by IRmep.

Pro-Israel conferences like AIPAC live-stream the entire show. They have nothing to hide.

Clearly WRMEA and IRmep do have something to hide from the public.

(h/t Paul R)

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Here is a new video from Islamic Jihad meant to introduce a new rocket, but it is really to celebrate the terror group's "accomplishments:"

Sprinkled throughout the video, and especially around the 2:00 mark, it proudly shows terror attacks - bus bombs, stabbings and car rammings of Jews, scenes of Jews injured in hospitals and Jewish funerals.

Islamic Jihad - funded by Iran - isn't saying that kiling Jewish civilians is a regretful but necessary component of the conflict. They are saying that attacking Jews is central to their mission and they are proud that they target identifiable Jews.

Yet this is not the worst part. Islamic Jihad is a terror group and you cannot expect any hint of morality from them.

The worst part is that this is part of the larger Palestinian culture. Islamic Jihad is hardly marginal - they are quite visible in Gaza and used to participate in student elections in the West Bank as well. Their media is popular. Their rallies attract tens of thousands.

Yet there is complete silence from the larger Palestinian community for Islamic Jihad's glorification of terror, their explicit antisemitism, their love of violence evident in this video.

Western liberals never tire of saying that most Palestinians are peaceful. Certainly the number that personally engage in terror is quite small. But the silence in the face of terrorists and terrorism being celebrated in their midst, in their media and websites, literally every day, cannot be interpreted as anything but the Palestinian public condoning and supporting the most disgusting and violent acts.

There are never any op-eds against Islamic Jihad-type terrorism or antisemitism. Not from Fatah, nor from the independent media.

Even the Western funders of the PA don't insist that part of their money go towards the active combatting of terror glorification. Instead they support nebulous and vague educational"peace" initiatives where platitudes are taught but nothing negative is said against terror and antisemitism. The reason is as depressing as it is obvious - the EU knows that Palestinian culture will not tolerate any dissent from the support of terror that is shown and taught to them from birth.

The PA and Fatah are only considered "moderate" because they aren't as explicit in their support of terror as Islamic Jihad and Hamas are. But they do absolutely nothing to stop the culture that celebrates murder of Jewish civilians, and in Arabic they often engage in the same type of incitement themselves.

There is something seriously wrong with the logic that people who condone or support terrorism against Jews have the right to their own state where such hate can be multiplied.

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Omar Hassan in Euronews writes:

Whatever one thinks of President Trump’s so-called Middle East “Deal of the Century” unveiled last month, it is clearly not a workable plan for peace in the short-term. Rather than a top-down solution crafted in Washington DC (a strategy that has failed for three decades), the world should focus on “quick wins” to reinvigorate the Palestinian economy from the bottom up, and increase startup programmes, business ties and social integration between Israelis and Palestinians.

...Pro-Palestinian activists might wonder how I can dare to focus on issues such as incomes and livelihoods when the “real issue” is justice for the Palestinian people. But an economic life, including one that brings them closer to their neighbours, is a precursor to any political settlement.

Whatever one’s views on the emotive issues in Trump’s plan, such as the right to return and the capital of the proposed Palestinian state, the day-to-day reality for ordinary Palestinians must still be addressed. It’s easy to dream of a Palestinian state. It is much harder to work to create living conditions that would make that state worth living in.

But the real benefit of focusing on economic development for Palestinians isn’t just in providing hope to a disenfranchised society, giving their youth something to live for, and providing a counter-narrative to the extremists who are happy for them to have no alternative to stone throwing.

If Palestinian entrepreneurship (which is recognised and admired across the region) can be harnessed, the social divisions between Arabs and Israelis will start to dissolve. As long as the two communities cannot live and work together side by side, the conflict will remain intractable, which is why Palestinians should be given greater access to Israel’s successful tech industry and start up scene.

The weird thing is that Hassan must not have read the Trump "Peace to Prosperity" plan, because the bulk of that plan gives specific ways to build up the Palestinian economy.

Hassan sounds almost exactly like Bibi Netanyahu back in 2008:

Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu told the closing plenary of the United Jewish Communities General Assembly Wednesday that the peace process needs to focus on economic issues and not political disagreements.

Instead of talking about contentious issues such as the status of Jerusalem, the first step to a lasting peace needs to be the fostering of the Palestinians' economic situation, he said.

"Right now, the peace talks are based only one thing, only on peace talks," he said. "It makes no sense at this point to talk about the most contractible issue. It's Jerusalem or bust, or right of return or bust. That has led to failure and is likely to lead to failure again."

Netanyahu used much of his 40-minute speech to delineate his own plan for the future of the peace process, which he said will be based on areas that are already agreed on.

"We must weave an economic peace alongside a political process," Netanyahu said. "That means that we have to strengthen the moderate parts of the Palestinian economy by handing rapid growth in those area, rapid economic growth that gives a stake for peace for the ordinary Palestinians."

Maybe Hassan knows very well that his ideas came from Bibi and Kushner and Greenblatt. But he knows that if he admits it, no one will take him seriously. So perhap he is saying that "economic peace" is the opposite of the Trump plan - in order to get more Palestinians to support it.

(h/t Tomer Ilan)

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02/25 Links Pt2: Melanie Phillips: Sanitizing Soros through guilt by association; J’Accuse! Our Dreyfus and Theirs

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: Sanitizing Soros through guilt by association

The law professor Alan Dershowitz has thrown a legal hand-grenade into America's political civil war by claiming to have evidence that former President Barack Obama "personally asked" the FBI to investigate someone "on behalf" of Obama's "close ally," billionaire financier George Soros.

He made his cryptic remark in an interview defending US President Donald Trump against claims he interfered in the prosecution of his former adviser, Roger Stone.

Dershowitz, a confirmed liberal, drew the ire of the left by joining Trump's impeachment defense team – not because he's a Trump fan, but because he cares about upholding the rule of law and the US constitution, which he believes (with good evidence) are being trashed in the anti-Trump witch-hunt.

Now, though, Dershowitz has crossed yet another line. For to criticize Soros, the principal funder of treasured activist causes, means automatically turning into a bogeyman of the left.

Predictably, therefore, Dershowitz has been painted as a wild conspiracy theorist. Other critics of Soros, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, find themselves labeled anti-Semites.

J’Accuse! Our Dreyfus and Theirs

Two months after its shellacking in the United Kingdom’s general elections, the Labour Party continues to remind British voters of why they chose the “anyone-but-Jeremy-Corbyn” option.

Last week, it was the turn of John McDonnell — Corbyn’s main lieutenant and a stalwart of the party’s far-left — to plumb the depths of illogical, offensive, and plain ignorant political rhetoric. Speaking immediately after a visit to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, in the grim surroundings of south London’s Belmarsh prison, McDonnell produced an unforgettable soundbite. Just not in the way he intended.

“I think this is one of the most important and significant political trials of this generation, in fact longer,” said McDonnell, referring to the possibility that Assange will be extradited to the United States to face 18 charges related to national security violations, of which 17 are covered by the Espionage Act.

Warming to his subject, McDonnell then ventured, “I think it’s the Dreyfus case of our age.”

Perhaps McDonnell believed that this comparison would send journalists scurrying onto Google for a quick refresher course on “Dreyfus,” and that he would consequently be congratulated for having offered such a thoughtful, historically resonant observation. No such luck.

Diligently performing their duties as representatives of the Jewish community, organizations including the Community Security Trust and the Holocaust Educational Trust swiftly countered McDonnell’s claim. Whatever Assange might be, they said, he is no Dreyfus.

This, by the way, is not a slight towards Assange. Even if you temporarily forget McDonnell’s breathtaking gall in appropriating one of the seminal episodes of modern antisemitism to make his point that Assange is facing a show trial, on a purely empirical level, the comparison with Dreyfus is hopeless.

U.S. Criticizes French Failure to Try Jewish Woman's Killer

The U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism implicitly criticized the decision in France not to try a man who killed his Jewish neighbor.

Elan Carr referenced the decision on the killer of Sarah Halimi during a conference Monday on anti-Semitism organized by the European Jewish Association in Paris.

In December, a judge decided not to try Kobili Traore of killing Halimi in 2017 while shouting about Allah. The judge cited psychiatric evaluations saying Traore’s consumption of marijuana before the incident led to a “delirious episode” that made him not legally responsible for his actions. But the judge also said that Traore, who is in his 30s, killed Halimi because he is an anti-Semite.

The ruling provoked outrage by French Jews. Last month, President Emmanuel Macron said that “there is a need for a trial” for Traore.

“You don’t dismiss hate crime charges for issues like the consumption of marijuana,” Carr said, referencing his credentials as a former prosecutor in Los Angeles. “It doesn’t explain away hate crimes that need to be prosecuted to the utmost severity of the law.”

The conference, titled “Jews in Europe: United for a Better Future,” was held at the European Center for Judaism, a $17 million community center opened in October.

Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association, said the building and growing engagement with Judaism by many European Jews is making him “hopeful of the future of Jews here” despite the challenges.

Palestinian schools teach that "the first historian was Palestinian," "A Palestinian Roman expelled Jews from Jerusalem"

As I was researching the broadcast announcements in Palestinian Arab schools I came across this one from 2017 that has a "Did you know?" section about how important Palestinians have been in history.

2- Did you know that the Palestinian emperor of Rome was the one who ordered the expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem due to their lack of politeness and their hatred against Christianity and Christians at that time?

Palestinians are trying to take credit for expelling Jews from Jerusalem - for the crime of being "impolite!"

In reality, the emperor who expelled the Jews from Jerusalem in 136 CE was Hadrian, born in Italy.

3- Did you know that the first historian in the world is Syoss Cassiros, who is Palestinian and whose book Pleistino is still preserved in the Louvre Museum ..

They appear to be referring to Simonides of Ceos (who was a poet, not a historian) and possibly his book now known as the Palatine Anthology of which part of it is in Paris. Simonides was born in Greece, not "Palestine."

The first historian is generally agreed to be Herodotus.

This seems to be the quality of a Palestinian education.

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02/25 Links Pt1: Despite attempt to change rules with Syria strikes, Israel’s Gaza policy failing; Voter apathy threatens reunion of Judea and Samaria with Israel; Mubarak, the ‘Pharaoh’ Toppled by the Arab Spring, Dies at 91

From Ian:

Avi Issacharoff: Despite attempt to change rules with Syria strikes, Israel’s Gaza policy failing

The latest round of violence between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group has not yet ended, but already there are a few things that stand out as different from previous rounds.

Syria commanders no longer immune
Israel may have chosen to strike various targets in the Gaza Strip, including rocket-launching cells, but the main response was far away, on the Syrian front, where many PIJ targets near Damascus were hit.

This is a surprising step, designed to make PIJ decision-makers think twice and thrice before attempting another attack. The military and the government are trying to set up a new equation by which escalation with Israel will hurt not only Gaza but also PIJ leaders in Syria, who have thus far enjoyed a degree of immunity from Israeli strikes.

This may not be the first time Israel attacked PIJ targets in Syria, but this time it is a direct reaction to rockets launched at Israel.

PIJ is doing quite a bit to lead to this escalation. The violence began Sunday early morning with the attempt to place a bomb next to the border fence and continued after the terrorist was killed and his body was dragged back to Israel by a military bulldozer. After a brief lull, the violence renewed Monday afternoon.

Even by its own standard, PIJ went overboard with its response, considering it all started with a cell trying to lay an explosive device. Having launched dozens of rockets into the night and on Monday, it is clear the organization seeks to drag the whole of Gaza into war — despite this being one of the better periods the Strip has experienced recently in terms of Israeli concessions.

Rocket attacks target Israeli south despite reported ceasefire

Terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired rockets at the city of Sderot and nearby communities on Monday night, some 20 minutes after a ceasefire was reportedly due to go into effect at 10 p.m.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the attack. Residents of the area reported seeing multiple Iron Dome interceptor missiles fired into the sky.

Over the course of Sunday and Monday, some 90 rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip — most of them by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group — and approximately 90 percent of those heading toward populated areas were intercepted by the Iron Dome system, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

In response to the attacks, the Israeli military launched multiple rounds of retaliatory air raids against Islamic Jihad bases in the Gaza Strip, as well as one airstrike on a squad it said was preparing to launch rockets, injuring four.

Just before the ceasefire was meant to begin, terrorists in the Strip also fired a number of rockets at the Eshkol region of southern Israel. One rocket struck inside a community in the region, causing no injuries, but light damage to a nearby building, which was hit by shrapnel.

In light of the ongoing attacks from Gaza, the military ordered schools to remain canceled Tuesday in Gaza periphery communities, including the city of Ashkelon, representing some 55,000 students.

‘I Shake in My Hands and Legs’: Child From Israel’s South Describes Rocket Trauma

A child from Israel’s south recounted on Monday the traumatic fear and terror she was facing as rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded the region once again, saying the air raid sirens made her “shake in my hands and legs.”

Dozens of rockets have been fired from Hamas-ruled Gaza into southern Israel over the past two days. While there have been no casualties thus far, the psychological and economic impact is severe.

Schools were closed in the Gaza border area on Monday, as were main highways and train lines.

Those businesses still open had almost no customers, as residents stayed in their homes close to bomb shelters and fortified rooms.

The IDF has undertaken retaliatory attacks against Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which it blamed for the rocket fire, in Gaza and Syria.

Roni, an eight-year-old second grader from the border city of Sderot, which has absorbed thousands of rocket strikes over the past two decades, was in a store with her grandmother buying a Purim costume when the warning sirens sounded.

“When I was with grandma in the store, a red alert caught us,” she told Israeli news site N12. “Immediately we got under the table that was in the store. I was under stress.”

“Every red alert makes me shake in my hands and legs. Every boom terrifies me,” she said.

“My big sister has a bat mitzvah soon and I hope there won’t be another red alert,” Roni added.

“At school they try to give us tools to deal with the fear with the help of games, and I hope that when I’m grown up I can be a dancer without sirens in the background,” she said.

Ilhan Omar calls her critics bigots. It could be because she doesn't want people to read a new book about her.

A revealing tweet from Ilhan Omar:

I am,

Hijabi
Muslim
Black
Foreign born
Refugee
Somali

Easily triggering conservatives, Right wing bloggers, anti Muslim bigots, tinfoil conspiracy theorists, birthers, pay me a 💵 to bash Muslims fraudsters, pro-occupation groups and every single xenophobe since 2016 😆 pic.twitter.com/SffIqUT32I
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 24, 2020

She is saying that critics are bigots against Muslims or black people or immigrants.

This is essentially her inoculation against criticism. It isn't about her words or ideology or her own bigotry - she is immune from attack because she can play the racism card.

So Omar, and the people in her circles which increasingly resembles the entire American Left, refuse to engage on the issues - her antisemitic statements, her offensive positions, her links to pro-terror organizations, her pretense of being feminist while refusing to admit misogyny in Islam, her paying a large salary to her lover and other corruption that is being revealed - and instead deflect criticism by labeling her opponents racist.

It is probable that this tweet was meant to be a response to the release this week of a book by Benjamin Weingarten about Omar and the threat that she represents.

The last thing she wants is for people to read it. For Omar, it is much better to imply that anyone who reads the book is vile.

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Today is the first day of the Islamic month of Rajab.

Like in many places worldwide, Palestinian schools have various announcements meant to be broadcast over school public address systems for various occasions. Sometimes these broadcasts include current events, prayers and the like.

Watania, a Gaza-based news organization, published a script yesterday of what was to be broadcast this morning in Palestinian schools on the occasion of the new lunar month. I don't think this is an official mandate, rather a suggestion of how to make Rajab relevant to students. No doubt some schools do broadcast what is suggested.

The suggested broadcast for today is antisemitic.

It includes this fervent prayer: "Oh Allah we ask that this year be a year of good and peace and that you cleanse the Holy Land from the spiteful Jews, for they are no match for You. Oh Jews, we have a great Lord; take revenge on them, oh Vanquisher/Subduer, oh Allah, oh Allah, oh Allah."

I found some other transcripts of Palestinian school radio broadcasts sprinkled throughout the Internet and antisemitism is not unusual. For example, this one says Jews could only hold onto Israel because of Muslim negligence:

I do not fear the power of the Jews, but I fear the Muslims ’failing. The Jews did not take what they took with their power, but with our neglect, it is the negligence of the strong that strengthens the weak.

Or this one:

The Jews are fools because they occupied a state whose people are untiring.
Every Palestinian is born a mujahid.

Palestinians learn their Jew-hatred from somewhere, and schools are one of those places.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

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The Spectator explains what Israeli cuisine means

Last week the Washington Post published an article that claimed that the very term "Israeli food" erased Palestinian culture.

The Spectator actually addresses the arguments Kassis brings, perhaps unintentionally.

To the Jewish state’s many critics, the rise of Israeli cooking doubtless embodies the colonialism that lies at the heart of the ‘Zionist project’. Trust the Jews to descend on a piece of neglected gastronomic real estate, strip its cuisine for parts and then use their savvy and connections to make a fortune flogging it to Americans. It’s true that hummus and the politics of cultural appropriation are serious issues in the Middle East. The Israel-Lebanon ‘hummus wars’ saw regiments of chefs patriotically competing to prepare ever-larger vats of the stuff in an attempt to capture the Guinness world record.

But there’s another story to tell, too, about a cuisine that draws strength from the diversity that is this 72-year-old country’s tragedy and its triumph. About a quarter of Israel’s population is Arab, including Bedouin and Druze. More than half of Israel’s Jews are Mizrachi, descendants of ‘eastern’ Jews from Iran, the Middle East and North Africa, who migrated, fled or were expelled from their homes after Israeli independence was declared in 1948.

This swirl of humanity has made Israeli food into the ultimate mezze platter: tagine and couscous from the Maghreb, shawarma from Ottoman Turkey and sabich (eggplant, eggs and salad in a pita) from Iraq. Jachnun (pastry) and the unpronounceable but addictive zhoug (an ultra-hot sauce) come from Yemen. Challah rolls down from the old country of Poland and Russia. Falafel is Egyptian or Israeli but, as usual, it depends on whom you ask. The yoghurt obsession is down to the Druze. Shakshuka is Tunisian. Hummus is the cement of the Levant and claimed, like the land, by both Israelis and Palestinians, among others. Fuse all this together, and you have the modern Israeli kitchen. Lots of places do these foods well, but Israeli restaurants do them all at once.

It isn't that Israel tries to erase Arab culture. It is that it adds its own spin on Middle Eastern food, creating dishes that are brand new.

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02/24 Links Pt2: UNESCO Affiliate at An-Najah University Honors Terrorists; The ethnic cleansing of Jews and left wing hypocrisy; Bernie Sanders, Surrounded By Anti-Semites, Attacks AIPAC

From Ian:

NGO Monitor: UNESCO Affiliate at An-Najah University Honors Terrorists

In August 2018, An-Najah University in Nablus held a ceremony to recognize 61 prisoners incarcerated in Israel’s Nafha Prison who had completed a course in international law and human rights. According to the university, the ceremony was organized by the UNESCO Chair on Human Rights and Democracy and Peace at An-Najah, in cooperation with Fatah, Fatah’s youth and student movement, and the Palestinian Authority Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs.

Course instructors included:
- Yasser Abu Bakr – Responsible for a 2002 terror attack in Netanya in which two Israeli civilians were murdered, including a 9-month-old girl. In 2004, Abu Bakr was sentenced to 115 years in prison.
- Nasser Awiss – Responsible for the murder of at least 14 Israeli civilians, in at least 4 terror attacks. In May 2003, he was sentenced to 14 life sentences.
- Izaddin Hamamra – Convicted in 2004 of recruiting suicide bombers for two bombings in Jerusalem, in which 19 Israelis civilians were murdered. Hamamra’s cell also planned bus hijackings.
- Khaled el-Karam – A law student at An-Najah. According to Palestinian media, he was arrested in May 2017 and sentenced to 15 months in prison by an Israeli military court. He also delivered remarks at the 2018 ceremony.

Responding to media coverage of the program, UNESCO attempted to distance itself from the program, claiming that “UNESCO does not fund UNESCO Chairs. It is the responsibility of the university hosting a UNESCO Chair to provide all the resources required – human, financial etc. – for the UNESCO Chair to carry out its work….The diploma/certificate-awarding training is not a UNESCO program and we have no role or contribution to it. Rather it is training provided by the university with the support of the UNESCO Chair. Chairs can contribute to such training but awards, diplomas, and certificates can be issued only by the university, not UNESCO.”

According to UNESCO, it chairs exist in over 700 institution, located in over 116 countries. These devote special attention to “key priority areas related to UNESCO’s fields of competence – i.e. in education, the natural and social sciences, culture and communication.”

UNESCO chairs are active in Israeli institutions, such as Ben Gurion University, Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv University, Haifa University, the Technion, and others.

David Collier: The ethnic cleansing of Jews and left wing hypocrisy

Talking about the historical ethnic cleansing of Jews from the whole of North Africa and the Middle East is an easy method of proving the antisemitism within the Palestinian cause. This example started with a simple tweet. A tweet that clearly points out that whilst Arabs make up more than 20% of Israel’s population, the rest of the Middle East and North Africa has virtually no Jews in it anywhere. Given some of these areas, like Morocco and Iraq had large Jewish populations – it becomes obvious that the Jews were ethnically cleansed from the MENA region.

Over 20% of Israel's population is Arab.

The Jewish population of -

Egypt 0%
Lebanon 0%
Syria 0%
Iraq 0%
Jordan 0%
Morocco 0%
Algeria 0%
Tunisia 0%
Libya 0%
Gaza is 0%

A million Jews used to live in these places.

Talk to me about ethnic cleansing again.
— David Collier (@mishtal) February 22, 2020

The tweet was popular – it was retweeted 2500 times and received over 6300 likes. Its message is clear and easy on the eye. There were a million Jews who lived in places such as Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Tunisia. In one way or another the Arabs in the region turned on their Jews, persecuted them and in most places drove them out. An act of quintessential antisemitic persecution. So when people reference ethnic cleansing in relation to the Arab / Israeli conflict – there is ONE obvious ethnic cleansing we really have to discuss. These people were not part of a civil conflict, they considered themselves at home and identified – as Jews always do – with the host nation. There were not even violent groups amongst them. They were simply othered, persecuted and driven out from their homes – often forced to leave all their posSessions behind.

Ethnic cleaning – a simple equation
A simple equation then for the human rights activist. *If* the people who hold aloft the ‘Palestinian cause’ do it because of ‘human rights’, *then* the very least of expectations, the lowest of bars, would also have them sympathising with these Jewish victims of ethnic cleansing. If this does not occur, we have solid evidence that their support for the Palestinian cause is not driven by human rights issues at all.

The obvious conclusion
The first thing to remember is that this all came from one simple tweet. It isn’t the result of deep digging or long-term research. When you post something about the persecution of Jews – this is what you receive in response. This brutally exposes a clear and blatant truth. None of this has anything to do with international law or concern for human rights. These activists fail the most basic of tests. They simply do not care about people being persecuted. When the ethnic cleansing of Jewish people from Arab lands is placed before them – they respond with whataboutery, insults and antisemitism. If you need proof that the Palestinian cause is more about antisemitism than human rights, just look at the response to this tweet. It is *always* worth remembering this when you hear them talk about how much they care.

This is the Al Jayyar Chocolate Shop in Gaza City.

I know, the first thing you think of when you see these photos is "this looks like the Warsaw Ghetto."

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Egypt bans popular "mahraganat" music because some lyrics are too racy - "more dangerous than coronavirus"

From France 24:

The union of Egyptian musicians has banned performances by singers of popular street music after the lyrics of a chart-topping song were deemed too racy for the conservative country.

The ban announced Sunday targets singers of mahraganat (Arabic for festivals) which has its roots in impoverished Cairo suburbs and spread after Egypt's 2011 uprising that ousted a longtime autocratic president.

Earlier this month the song "Bint al-Giran" (The girl next door) reached over 100 million views on YouTube and was the second most played hit on SoundCloud, the do-it-yourself streaming platform.

On Valentine's Day, crooner Hassan Shakoosh performed his hit at a packed Cairo stadium to tens of thousands of fans.

But the song's lyrics -- "I drink alcohol and smoke hashish" -- sparked the ire of the union, which reflects the views of authorities and takes orders from the culture ministry in the conservative Muslim majority country.

The head of the musicians union Hany Shaker was quick to react and on Sunday banned mahraganat singers from performing at clubs, cafes, hotels and concerts.

"This kind of music which is loaded with sexual innuendo and offensive language is completely unacceptable. That's why we have pulled the plug on it once and for all," Shaker said.

A statement by the union said "legal proceedings" would be lodged against establishments that host the performers.

100 million views on YouTube and the Egyptian culture ministry thinks they will be able to ban it? There might not be any public performances but you can be sure that fans will continue to listen.

Here is Shakoosh performing the song on TV in January:

But Shakoosh's manager caved to the censorship.

The manager of Shakoosh apologised.

"We are very sorry for our mistake and respect the union's decision," manager Camba told AFP on Monday.

He said the lyrics which offended public sensibilities were played at the stadium because of a technical glitch.

Arab News adds:

Egyptian Parliament spokesman, Salah Hasaballah, described the mahraganat singers as “more dangerous than the new coronavirus.”

Other MPs said the music should be banned “to protect public taste” while some politicians called for a less heavy-handed approach by urging singers to select their lyrics more carefully in accordance with morals and good taste.

MP Abdel-Hamid Kamal filed a report to Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal calling on the Egyptian Minister of Culture Inas Abdel-Dayem to hold a session to discuss what he described as “low-taste art” and how it affects society. In his report, Kamal said that the spread of mahraganat music could have a negative impact on future generations.

Member of the media and culture committee in Parliament, novelist Youssef El-Kaeed, backed Kamal saying the music “mutilated” public taste and spread undesired types of arts.

Yes, a country where women are routinely sexually harassed and attacked in public is saying that lyrics about hashish are too immoral.

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02/24 Links Pt1: Over 40 Gaza Rockets Fired At Israel; A Playground Suffered a Direct Hit; Netanyahu threatens war as sirens continue to wail in southern Israel; The Palestinians have never really sought peace

From Ian:

Netanyahu threatens war as sirens continue to wail in southern Israel

Rockets fell near a playground in the college-town of Sderot as well in a yard of a residential home. There were no reports of physical injuries. In Netivot, rocket shrapnel fell near a house.

The PIJ claimed responsibility for the rocket fire on Monday afternoon, saying that the launches were in response to the killing of two PIJ terrorists in Damascus. "In the Al-Quds Brigades, we confirm that we are ready to confront any aggression and let the enemy know that if it continues, we will respond with full force and might," said the military wing of the terrorist group in a statement.

After a barrage of rockets was fired towards the city of Netivot in southern Israel, Hamas warned that the response to the Israeli strikes in Gaza came within a unified understanding between all the factions in Gaza that "Palestinian blood is a red line." The terrorist group warned that if the IDF expanded its strikes, Israel would face "resistance like it's never seen."

Since yesterday, over 60 rockets were fired from Gaza to southern Israel, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn that Israel may launch a broader campaign against Hamas in Gaza if it does not totally stop firing rockets.

“I am not hurrying into war. I know the price that our soldiers and the families of the fallen pay,” Netanyahu, whose brother Yoni was killed in action, said.

Still, the prime minister said that if there is no choice: “Woe to Hamas and Islamic Jihad when that day comes! It’s their choice.”
“We will do what it takes to bring back total security for the residents of the south,” he vowed.

"If you don't shoot them, we will shoot you. I'm talking about a war," Netanyahu said earlier on Army Radio. "I only go to war as a last option, but we have prepared something you can't even imagine."

His interview was interrupted by fresh sirens warning of incoming rockets.